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Carl Rivera

What Carl Rivera thinks about design

@carl-rivera · 12 positions · On ppll ↗

Chief Product Officer at Nubank, appointed May 2026; before that at Shopify (Chief Design Officer; VP of Product, Merchant Services) and co-founder and CEO of Tictail, which Shopify acquired in 2018.

Carl Rivera did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

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Only Carl Rivera on design. See everyone on design

5 dated positions, 2025, in their own words. Our reading of what Carl Rivera has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingWhen the future is ambiguous, design is the best tool for imagining it, because it brings everyone in on the same version of that future.

    Their wordswhen you're heading into a future that feels like it's covered in the clouds, there's no better tool to imagine it than through design. Because design has this magical capability of bringing everyone in on the same version of the future.

    ↗Tobi Lütke x Carl Rivera: Designing For Ambition (Context, Shopify)youtube.com 1st of 13 in this recording

  3. Our readingThe lines between design and engineering are blurring: designers need to think and work more like engineers, and engineers and product leaders can produce good design.

    Their wordsI have this view that we're in this period where all lines are blurring, and it involves how we do work. So designers need to think more and behave more like engineers and can also do more engineering-like work. And we have engineers and product leaders that can actually produce a lot of good design.

    ↗Tobi Lütke x Carl Rivera: Designing For Ambition (Context, Shopify)youtube.com 3rd of 13 in this recording

  5. Our readingDesign work should aim at the very long term and the very short term and cut out everything in the middle.

    Their wordsI'm basically working on this assumption that we should work on the very long term and the very short term and cut out everything in the middle.

    ↗Tobi Lütke x Carl Rivera: Designing For Ambition (Context, Shopify)youtube.com 7th of 13 in this recording

  7. Our readingShopify should not spread its design effort thinly and evenly across everything it makes.

    Their wordsI think that Shopify should not peanut butter its efforts around design.

    ↗Tobi Lütke x Carl Rivera: Designing For Ambition (Context, Shopify)youtube.com 9th of 13 in this recording

  9. Our readingThe paths merchants use most should be made 10-out-of-10 experiences, while many other experiences can be vibe-coded 7-out-of-10 work on good component systems with no designer involved.

    vibe coding

    Their wordswe should double down on making them be 10 out of 10 experiences. And then I think a lot of our experiences can be vibe-coded 7 out of 10 things that use good component systems, are usable, but that you don't really even need to have a designer involved in them.

    ↗Tobi Lütke x Carl Rivera: Designing For Ambition (Context, Shopify)youtube.com 10th of 13 in this recording